Tag-Archive for » Frozen «

The first time we watched the Disney movie Frozen — when you have a three-year-old granddaughter you tend to watch things like this more than once — it was obvious to us that it was destined to be a stage show.

Now it is…in a way.

The stage show isn’t on Broadway, nor in London, nor even in Orlando. It’s on the Disney Magic and the Disney Wonder, half the fleet of the company’s cruise ships, or it’s going to be this summer.

It’s also not a full production number, because 90 minutes to two hours is too long for cruise-ship entertainment, which means either cruisers have shorter attention spans or cruise lines don’t want to keep them away from the bars and casinos that long, although that doesn’t completely apply to Disney, which has no casinos on ships.

The stage show Frozen — this is surely only it’s first iteration because Disney’s calling it the “debut” — is a three-song show that was “inspired by the animated hit” with interactivity that extends beyond the ships. For example, the experience includes a deck party, meeting and greeting the cast and “storybook adventures” in ports.

The ships will also be decorated with appropriate Frozen artifacts and daily themes that Disney does better than anybody, such as “freezing” the ship’s atrium with sparkling icicles so that it feels like Queen Elsa’s ice palace (brr-r-r-).

And if you’ve never been asked by Anna or Elsa “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” there’s even a chance you’ll be able to build one…

In case you missed the memo, Frozen is hot. That’s Frozen the movie, plus all the merchandise that comes with it …can you say “What’s under the Christmas tree this year?” In fact, Frozen is so hot that it’s on the high seas, in a way.

The one-year-old movie that appeals to all-year-olds is not going to be on any of the big screens that ships now have, with the possible exception of Disney. Olaf will not be your maitre d’— although he could be a Scandinavian ship captain if that happens to be his name. Elsa is not likely to be the girl by the pool taking drink orders. There will not be a reindeer ride on Sven, at least not yet.

Frozen is on Oceania.

Clearly hoping to catch your eye by capitalizing on the movie’s fame, the promotional line reads like this: “With Oceania Cruises, Frozen describes only the refreshing tropical drink in your hand…as you leisurely sail from one sun-drenched Caribbean island to another.”

Frozen cruises. Now there’s an oxymoron. With the exception of adventurous expeditions to the Poles, cruises are generally for warm-weather people. Lie on the deck, swim in the pool, sit in the moonlight on the balcony. None of these things works on a “frozen cruise.”

Everybody knows Frozen, the movie…while we did hear a movie critic claim she had never heard “Do You Want To Build A Snowman?” Perhaps she doesn’t get out much. So okay, almost everybody has heard of Frozen…the movie, the music, the characters. To the surprise of no one, Frozen characters are going on Disney ships.

No dates yet, but one Florida travel agency is reporting that Princess Anna and Queen Elsa will be making appearances on three of Disney’s four ships: the Magic, the Wonder and the Fantasy. It will be on cruises to the Caribbean and — here’s another shocker — Alaska.

Disney, meanwhile, is reporting that for the first time it will be cruising to Scotland, Iceland and Norway, the animated “country” that was the movie’s set…and the impact on the real Norway has been nothing short of astounding. Disney is implementing guided tours called “A Full Frozen Package” that include fjord visits, trout fishing and a visit to Bergen. Since the movie’s release, traffic to the VisitNorway website has tripled, traffic is up 52 per cent on Norwegian Air Shuttle, searches for Norwegian flights are up 153 per cent and hotel bookings are up 37 per cent.

Did you know you can only buy five singing Olafs? You don’t know what a singing Olaf is, or why you would want to buy…one…him?

Then you don’t know Frozen.

If Anna is the apple of your eye, no matter how many granddaughters you have, five is your limit. The same goes for Elsa — she’s the other Sparkle Princess. And Sven’s the same, not because he talks.

These are the characters from Frozen, the hit movie from Disney, and it has everything to do with cruising because Disney has cruise ships that Moms and Dads and Grandmas and Grandpas go on and buy these toys. For the grandchildren, you understand.

The demand has been so great (think Cabbage Patch Dolls) that Disney has had to restrict purchases. Imagine…restricting how much Disney anything you can buy! And because Olaf and Anna and friends are so hot, they’ve become an industry for speculators.

Yesterday, we checked ebay. There were 1,692 Olafs available for sale. And 8,058 Elsas and Annas. As a duo, the girls were being offered by one seller for $18.99 and there were 206 “watchers.” Any one for them could have bought the dolls for $19 on the spot but they are watching because they want to see if they can make a buck on sales of their own.

Meanwhile, back at Disney — which also likes to make a buck — the limit on Frozen purchases also applies at all theme parks and Disney Vacation Club locations.